Mrs A. E. Faulkner

Recording of Mrs A.E. Faulkner talking about Tauranga ferries in 1981 by Max Avery for Tauranga Historical Society. Copied onto one side of a TEAC CDX90 audio cassette tape.

Max Avery’s interview with Agnes E. Faulkner (née Davies), probably recorded at her Hamilton Street home in 1981 while he was researching the Faulkner Ferry Service, covers the practical operation of the family’s Tauranga harbour transport business. Faulkner recalls how passenger fares alone were insufficient, so the company’s launches and barges carried timber, sand, stone, firewood, fertiliser and construction materials, towed sailing vessels, and worked throughout Tauranga Harbour and up the Wairoa and Waimapū rivers, including transporting material associated with the McLaren Falls hydro-electric scheme. She describes regular and special services to Matakana Island, Bowentown and Katikati, her own work aboard the vessels as a general rouseabout, and the heavy holiday passenger traffic. She discusses vessels including Farina, Ruru, Spindrift and Manurere, the conversion from petrol to diesel engines, and the 1931 death of engineer Albert Edward “Alf” Hassall aboard Manurere after he became caught in hauling gear during a fishing trip off Whakatāne. She also recalls the qualifications gained by her husband Robert Henry “Barley” Faulkner and his brother George Frederick Christopher Faulkner, her own bookkeeping role until the early 1930s, and Tauranga’s Town, Victoria, Railway, Aerodrome and Salisbury wharves, providing detailed evidence of the routes, vessels, working practices and waterfront infrastructure of Faulkner Bros.